Success is Counted Sweetest
by Bishwop
Summary: As a child living in modern Earth, Alaina visited Hobbiton whenever she wanted. Until someone found out, banning her from ever returning. Ten years later, she returns by accident. Will her friends remember her? And how will she get back home?
1. The Secret Door

Success is Counted Sweetest  
Chapter One  
The Secret Door  
  
Disclaimer: LOTR isn't mine, sadly.  
  
Alaina quietly closed her bedroom door behind her, then pressed her ear to the door leading into the hallway. Good. Nobody was coming. Alaina quietly changed out of her scratchy lace dress and into the more comfortable hobbit trousers and tunic her mother had made her for the school play. Alaina would have made them herself, but this would have been quite a feat, as she was only six. Hesitantly, she pulled on the jacket that went with her "costume" and threw her cloak around her arms, tossing her brown hair over her shoulder. She wasn't sure whether or not it would be cold.  
After another quick listen at the door just to be sure, Alaina slipped into her closet and pulled the door shut. She turned around and pushed apart the clothes on their hangers, creating a gap that should have shown bare wall, but instead showed a door. She felt under her tunic until her fingers reached a silver key on a long chain around her neck, well hidden by her clothing. The chain was long enough that Alaina didn't need to remove it from her neck in order to insert it into the lock. There was a small click, as the door unlocked. Grasping the doorknob, she pulled firmly and the door swung open, revealing surprisingly bright sunlight. Alaina blinked and stepped through the doorway.  
  
A/N: I know it's short.it's a hook. Get hooked! Please tell me what you think.if no one finds it interesting, I might not even write the rest. P.S. if you see a random period in the middle of a sentence, with no spaces, it means dot dot dot (as in trail off wistfully.or some other adverb). 


	2. They've Found Me!

Success is Counted Sweetest  
  
Chapter Two  
  
They've Found Me!  
  
Disclaimer: pout I wish LOTR were mine…  
  
Alaina stepped onto the warm grass (of course without shoes, even though she was a human) and looked around. She had stepped through the door, as she always did, into the middle of a cornfield. Farmer Maggot's cornfield, to be precise. The day was warmer than she had expected, so before shutting and locking the door, Alaina tossed her cloak and jacket inside. She rustled up the cornstalks so that they would cover the door, which took on the exact texture and hue of its surrounding cornstalks, so this task was hardly necessary. And even though the door was locked, she just wanted to make sure no one could find it and accidentally get through. Or purposely, for that matter.  
  
Merry and Pippin were nowhere to be found. However, upon looking around once more Alaina realized that they might well have been just a few feet to her left. She wouldn't see them, of course, unless they were right next to her, the corn was too thick. And since the door was hidden, they could never guess exactly the right spot, though they had been getting closer with the increasing frequency of Alaina's visits.  
  
"Merry? Pippin?" she yelled, but received no answer. She shrugged and trudged on through the field, expecting to meet them at Frodo's, where she always stayed on her visits to Hobbiton. There was no sound except for the birds' whistling. Wait--there was no sound at all. Alaina wondered where all the birds had gone when she heard a faint rustling. Thinking it was just the wind, she walked on. The rustling increased. Suddenly there was a squeal, then a giggle, as Alaina was knocked to the ground by two large objects in the shape of hobbit-lads.  
  
Pippin giggled insanely at what he thought had been a clever trick on his and Merry's parts. Alaina giggled, then sat up and shoved Pippin.  
  
"Meanies!" (A/N: Please remember, she's only six! Six-year-olds say weird stuff!) She said jokingly. Merry got up and brushed himself off, then helped Alaina to her feet.   
  
"I knew you were there all along," she stated haughtily.  
  
"Did not!" Merry challenged.  
  
"Did so!" Alaina retorted. "I heard Merry giggling as you got closer."  
  
"Merry! You ruined it!" Pippin chided.  
  
"You're the one walks like an elephant!" Merry teased. Alaina rolled her eyes.  
  
"Race you to Frodo's! Whoever's last has to...Oh, I know! Whoever's last has to steal one of Farmer Maggot's apples to give to the winner. We have to race all the way and touch his door to win. Fair enough?" Merry and Pippin both agreed this was a good idea. "Alright, on my mark. Ready...set...GO!"   
  
All three took off, running as fast as they could and squealing with glee. Merry and Pippin soon took the lead, right next to each other. Merry nudged Pippin with his elbow as they ran. Pippin nudged back. Merry nudged harder, pushing Pippin to the ground. Pippin fell, but grabbed Merry's foot, taking Merry with him as well. While they disentangled themselves, Alaina ran ahead and tagged the door just as Merry caught up with her. Pippin finished last, and promptly sat down to massage his ankle.  
  
"Are you okay?" Alaina asked.  
  
"I'm fine...I just...I think I hurt my ankle." Merry and Alaina each grabbed an arm and hoisted Pippin up. Merry let him lean on his shoulder while Alaina knocked on Frodo's door. Bilbo's face appeared in the window, and a couple seconds later he opened the door.  
  
"Alaina!" he exclaimed, as she threw her arms around him.  
  
"Uncle Bilbo!" (A/N: He's obviously not her uncle; she's a human, but she's so close with him that he's like an uncle; likewise, Frodo is like a cousin to her.) She pulled away quickly, remembering Pippin's ankle. "Uncle Bilbo, Pippin's hurt his leg. Do you think you could help?"  
  
"Oh, I don't know much about healing, but I'm sure Sam could do something about it. Why don't you go find him? He should be in the garden." Alaina moved aside to let Merry and Pippin through the door, then turned and stopped to listen for the sound of Sam's shears. She found him trimming the bushes at the edge of the garden.  
  
"Sam?" he stopped trimming and looked up.  
  
"Alaina!" he smiled and dropped his shears.  
  
"Pippin's hurt his ankle….we were wondering if you could help."  
  
"I'll do my best." Sam ran down the street to his own hobbit-hole and told the Gaffer what happened.  
  
Once they got back to Frodo's with all the supplies necessary to heal an ankle, they realized that Alaina was missing. Sam wrapped a bandage around Pippin's ankle and made sure it wasn't too tight before asking where Alaina could be.  
  
Pippin looked up from his ankle. "She didn't go with you?"  
  
"No, I went to get my Gaffer and I assumed she'd come back here."  
  
Pippin looked out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of Alaina, thinking that she might have wandered off. The others followed suit.  
  
"What's that?" asked Merry, seeing a large shape seemingly struggling with a smaller one moving further away. (A/N: Frodo's there too….he's around somewhere, thinking about actually having a line in this fanfic *gasp*) The smaller one broke free and ran toward the hobbit-hole, shouting, "Help! Help, they've found me!"  
  
"It's Alaina!" Pippin gasped. The larger shape, the one previously holding the struggling Alaina, got back up from where it had fallen and grabbed Alaina again.  
  
"Stay here!" commanded Bilbo as he tore out the door and down the road. The Gaffer followed, issuing the same order. Of course no one listened. Frodo, Sam, and Merry rushed out the door, leaving an injured Pippin to limp along after them.  
  
A/N: Yay, longer than last chapter. Please review, I want to know if people are actually reading this. Score! I've figured out that I have a lot less weird prolems when I don't use Microsoft Word. Also, I sincerely apologize for the scrunched upedness of chapter one. From now on, they'll be like this chapter and have random spaces whenever I hit enter...if I confused you then just nevermind. I'm muttering to myself basically. Please review! 


	3. The Captor

Success is Counted Sweetest  
  
Chapter Three  
  
The Captor  
  
Disclaimer: Do I have to do this every time? Probably not…but it's fun.  
  
"You should've stayed behind!" said Bilbo. He seemed angry at the fact that everyone had insisted on coming along to see what happened to Alaina.  
  
"And leave Alaina to be dragged away? Yeah, right!" fumed Frodo. (Ooh, he DID make an appearance!)  
  
"That's not the point! You could have been hurt! We didn't know who was trying to take Alaina, but they could have been dangerous."  
  
"But they weren't! It was her father!"  
  
"Exactly! You don't know her father, or why he wants to take her back to Earth!"  
  
Sam, Merry, and Pippin watched in an awed silence. They had never seen Bilbo and Frodo at it like this before, a mark of the seriousness of the situation, a point that they were too young understand.  
  
Pippin tried to put in a remark in Frodo's favor, but was shushed by Bilbo. Sam motioned slightly and quietly slipped out the door, followed by Merry and Pippin.  
  
"Why are they so angry at each other all of a sudden?" asked Merry. "I don't think it's really something to be angry about."  
  
Pippin hesitated slightly before answering, "so can avoid talking about something else. The thing they don't want to talk about..." he trailed off.  
  
"The fact that Alaina's gone. Probably...probably for good," Sam finished for him. "She's told us about her parents. They wouldn't want her to have anything to do with Middle-Earth." There was a long silence. Sam realized what Alaina's absence would really mean. Among other things, he would not be able to give her the necklace he had made for her birthday. This was against the usual hobbit tradition, but Alaina had told them all about the traditions of her hometown. Hearing footsteps, he looked up, shaken from his reminiscence.  
  
"What's everyone looking so depressed about?" said a young girl's voice.  
  
"Alaina! You're back!" shouted Pippin as he tackled her, a sort of tradition between them now. Alaina pushed her unruly brown hair out of her eyes as she stared up at the sky.  
  
"Not for long," she said quietly. "Apparently I forgot the lock the door this morning. My dad found his way through and told me that's how knew that this was the reason I was always daydreaming and talking about hobbits, stuff he said didn't make sense. My parents had a suspicion, of course. They told me they couldn't understand how I spent so much time in my bedroom."  
  
"Well, you're here now, so you can just stay here!" suggested Merry. Alaina shook her head sadly.  
  
"They took the key. I happened to have a spare, but they can come here at any time and find me. They don't know that I have another key, but just to make sure I don't come back, we're moving."  
  
"When?" asked Sam.  
  
"Tomorrow."  
  
"What?!" Pippin was infuriated. "They can't do that!"  
  
"Apparently they can." After a brief pause, Sam stepped forward and handed Alaina the necklace.   
  
"Happy birthday…" he said halfheartedly. Alaina studied the necklace. Sam had engraved some sort of rune on a circular piece of metal hanging from a black cord. "It's the elven-rune for self-defense. Bilbo taught it to me. You always said you were going to be tougher than any lad…" Alaina slipped it over her head.  
  
"Thank you…I'm going to wear it until it gets so old it falls off." Sam could tell she was fighting back tears as she said this. Without warning, threw her arms around Sam as she burst into tears. "I promise I'll come back. I don't know when or how, but I'll be back someday," she said softly. Merry and Pippin joined in to make a sort of group hug. No one spoke as Alaina turned and walked off into the cornfield to go home, though not necessarily for the last time. Sam felt a reassurance in her parting words, knowing that Alaina always kept her promises.  
  
A/N: Ok so now I'm going to clear up a few things that should have gone at the beginning but for some reason I didn't want to put them first. I know that modern Earth people going to Middle-Earth is an EXTREMELY common theme, but I had my own reasons for doing so. I could have made Alaina be a hobbit-lass and the rest of the story save the first four chapters could have been almost exactly the same. However, if I did that then I would feel I'd have to write more in Tolkien's style, which frankly, I just can't do. Similar to everyone else out there, I grew up now (that's a no-brainer) and learned how to speak like modern people do, so it would be hard to make Alaina speak like she was from Middle-Earth. Another reason is I'd like to be able to take something that's not very uncommon (i.e. the theme) and make it original, by adding my own (hopefully) original plot. Yeah, that one might not work out so well…but I'm also trying very hard to avoid a Mary-Sue. Really I just want to write a story that people will enjoy. So...enjoy! 


	4. The Return

Success is Counted Sweetest  
  
Chapter Four - The Return   
  
Disclaimer: You know the routine, I don't own LOTR, etc…but it would've been so darn awesome to meet J.R.R. Tolkien! (Christopher Lee did!) Argh! Why isn't Tolkien in my computer's dictionary? Damn computer! Ah, see that could be the reason I rated this fic PG rather than G...not for the actual content of the story, but for my personal comments...like that one. Oh also, I've noticed I've only gotten like...2 reviews. Probably because most people reading my fic don't like it. Well, if you don't like it, please review anyway and tell me why! I can't improve if I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Ooh and Christopher Lee is also in Sleepy Hollow, which I just watched last night (Johnny Depp! Woo7!)  
  
Ten years later...  
  
Sam laid down his shears and shielded his eyes from the sun as he looked toward the pond, hearing something land on the bank. It appeared to be a traveler's pack, one that a hobbit might use if going on a long journey. A split second later a strange shadow passed overhead, and Sam shifted his gaze just in time to see someone fall directly into the center of the pond, as if he or she had fallen from the sky. Startled, he began to shout for help.  
  
********************************  
  
Pippin had just barely escaped Farmer Maggot's cornfield for the third time that week when he heard a large splash.  
  
"What was that?" he asked Merry, who shrugged  
  
"Help! Somebody help!" came a shout from the same direction.  
  
"The pond!" Merry exclaimed.  
  
"Someone's fallen in!" Pippin agreed. Without a backward glance they both began to run at top speed to the pond, luckily only one field over from Farmer Maggot's.  
  
Pippin leapt over a hedge and found Sam kneeling at the pond's edge. Without a word of explanation, Pippin and Merry glanced at each other before simultaneously pulling off their jackets at diving into the pond.  
  
Pippin pushed the murky water away as he dove deeper, straining to see so he could find whoever it was that had fallen in. It grew darker and he could just barely make out Merry's figure beside him. Pippin wondered nervously how deep the pond could be, and if they'd be able to save whoever had fallen in. He began to think that maybe his efforts had been in vain when his hand struck the muddy bottom. He could barely see, but he could just identify what looked like a young hobbit-lass. After glancing around to make sure Merry had made it, Pippin grabbed one of the girl's arms as Merry grabbed the other. Pushing hard off the bottom, Pippin began to swim slowly toward the surface, finding that it was much harder now that he only had one arm and the other was occupied pulling dead weight. He kicked harder as his legs began to ache and his lungs started to feel as though they would give out soon. He could see the light. He fought his way through the water, which began to feel warmer, hoping he would make it before he passed out. Pippin tried to swim harder, but his lungs were on fire. He was almost there! Just when Pippin was sure he couldn't make it and was about to give up, his head broke through the surface and he gasped for breath.  
  
Merry and Pippin pulled the girl up so that her head was at least above water as they swam toward shore. Pippin had a sudden fear that the girl might not be only unconscious, as he had previously thought. He pushed that thought to the back of his mind and concentrated on getting her onto dry land as fast as he could. Merry and Pippin clung to the grass to catch their breath as Sam pulled the girl up onto the bank. After a moment, they had all crowded around her to inspect the girl whose life they had hopefully just saved.  
  
Pippin leaned over the unconscious girl and noticed that she was wearing the sort of clothing that humans from "modern Earth" wore, according to the photographs Alaina had given him. With this thought another entered his mind, a nagging one that Pippin just couldn't put his finger on. There was something familiar about this girl...  
  
****************************  
  
Sam pushed the girl's wet hair out of her face. She definitely looked familiar. A thought occurred to him, but he pushed it away, not daring to hope. But he was sure that he knew this girl from somewhere even though he couldn't imagine why she would be dressed so strangely. Sam studied her. She had somewhat tangled brown hair that hung about a foot below her shoulders. He was sure that, had she been awake, she would have had green eyes and a mischievous grin that meant she was up to no good even if it was all in good fun. It was at this point that Sam noticed something around her neck, something that confirmed his suspicions. It was a circular piece of metal, silver in color, with the elvish rune for self-defense engraved upon it, hanging on a piece of black cord.  
  
"Merry, Pippin...do you know why this girl looks so familiar?" They both shrugged. "It's because...it's Alaina."  
  
A/N: Woo7! Be proud of me! That's like...two chapters in two days! Well, it's a weekend. Ok, I was going to say something but I don't remember what it was...well, here's something else to entertain you: if you see random asterisks, it means either there is a cut to another scene (so to speak), or there is a change in point of view. I always use third person objective POV (well, usually…I'll try to be consistent but it might sometimes become omniscient), but when I change it just means that you can see the thoughts and feelings of another character. It'll usually be Alaina...but sometimes she's unconscious so it doesn't work out so well. Please review! Also review or email if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions. Now, I must go play Kingdom Hearts...I'm so addicted to that game! Thanks for reading! 


	5. The Secret Door Again

Success is Counted Sweetest  
  
Chapter Five - The Secret Door...Again (It's a different one)  
  
Disclaimer: Fwah! Heh...so I was almost done writing this chapter when I decided that this wasn't going at all in the direction I wanted it to. So now I give you...a rewrite!!! (Duh duh duh duh! [A fanfare]) P.S. this chapter is from Alaina's point of view...it tells what happened from her perspective during the last chapter basically.  
  
"Hey, Alaina? Can I borrow your toothpaste? I forgot mine," called Christine from the bathroom.  
  
"Yeah...it should be in the top drawer."  
  
"Thanks." After a pause, "Alaina?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"What's this necklace doing in here?" Alaina's attention was immediately pulled from the novel she was reading. In a flash, she was on her feet and running across the hall, book thrown askew.  
  
"Where did you find that?!" she demanded, seeing Christine holding up her elvish rune necklace.  
  
"It was in the drawer with the toothpaste. I'm sorry, I-" Christine didn't have time to finish her sentence, as Alaina had viciously snatched the necklace back before slipping it over her head and stuffing it down her shirt, as if she didn't want anyone to see it. "Geez, you're just like Frodo," Christine said jokingly.  
  
"Oh, what do you know? Frodo wasn't always like that! It was the One Ring's effect on him."   
  
Christine ran her fingers through her blonde hair. "You sound as if you know him."  
  
Alaina said nothing. How could she expect even her best friend to understand that she had actually had known him? Christine just thought it had been a dream...a very good dream. She ihad/i been there...but the more she tried to reassure herself, the more it really did seem like a dream.   
  
"Wow, we're obsessed. I hope Emma finds Return of the King as amusing as we did the first three times we saw it. Maybe she'll share your feelings for a certain character that might be named Legolas Green--oof!" Alaina giggled as a pillow, guided by none other than Christine, collided with her head. (No, the characters don't actually know what a random pillow was doing in the bathroom either. But they knew enough not to question it.) Alaina knew that Emma and Christine both shared her incredible weakness for hot guys, but secretly she thought that Christine might be just a tiny bit shallow...Then again, gorgeous as she was, with her silky blonde hair and deep blue eyes, she could afford to be a bit shallow. Alaina sighed, knowing life wasn't fair.  
  
"Hurry up, Alaina! We'll be late for the movie! You might miss some of your dear Samwise," Christine said tauntingly, shaking Alaina from her near-coma of jealousy. This time, it was Alaina's turn to wield the pillow. "Hey, don't mess up my hair!" Christine scolded.  
  
"Whatever. You know it's impossible to mess up iyour/i hair. Let's go."  
  
Upon their arrival, Emma was nowhere to be found.  
  
"Oh, Emma's in her bedroom. Why don't you girls go on up?" her mother said kindly.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Emma?" Christine called once they were in her bedroom. "We're heeeeeere!" She received no response. Alaina gently prodded Christine's arm.  
  
"Look...her closet door is open. Do you think she's in there?"  
  
"I dunno...let's check it out. Hey, turn on the light. Uh, Alaina? Why is there another door in here?" Alaina had a sneaking suspicion that this might be similar to the one she had found at her old house...  
  
"Well, I suppose we should go on through." Alaina stepped through the door and, instead of finding solid ground, to her horror found herself plunging into darkness and beginning to lose conciousness...  
  
A/N: So...Alaina is probably going to end up a Mary-Sue...but, there are other authors who write MS fics, and I enjoy reading them, so I figure they might enjoy this. Even if you despise MS, please keep reading...Alaina might turn out alright...hopefully. Also, I haven't figured out yet how to italicize just one word at a time. sorry! but for now, whenever you see ia word/i, it means that word is supposed to be italicized. Grrrr. 


	6. Remembrances and Reintroductions

Success is Counted Sweetest  
  
Chapter Six - Remembrances and Reintroductions  
  
A/N: A few things before we get started. First of all: thank you so much to all my reviewers!!! And a special thank you to ~*The Lady Shieldmaiden*~ for being my first reviewer…and continuing to be the first to review all five of my chapters…thank you. To Ariaste: Yeah, I realize…thanks for the warning though. I guess people seem to like it the way it is (i.e. not quite Mary-Sue) so I'll try to keep it that way.  
  
Another thing…if you're like me and sometimes have a horrible short-term memory, you might want to skim the end of chapter four before reading this, cause I'm going to pick up right where chapter four left off. I realize now that the story would have made more sense and just generally flowed better if I had reversed chapters four and five. Sorry! Argh just remembered another thing I need to mention…aw, never mind! I'll do it at the end…remind me! Now, on with the fic!! (Duh duh duh duh! [Fanfare…like last chapter, remember?])  
  
Everything was dark…but that could have been due to the fact that Alaina's eyes were closed. She lay on her back, feeling weak and drenched both inside and out. She coughed, bringing what felt like a gallon of water out of her lungs and on to the grassy bank beside her. There was a strange silence as she realized that she had previously heard anxious voices from somewhere above where she lay. Alaina opened her eyes, but her memory seemed to be temporarily malfunctioning, as she had no idea where she was or how she got there. Three faces hovered nervously overhead, apparently waiting for Alaina to do something. The one in the middle spoke.  
  
"Alaina?" he said almost tentatively.  
  
"What?" Although Alaina was a bit shocked, she was also extremely gladdened. Here, in front of her, was Samwise Gamgee. Besides confirming her hopes that she hadn't merely been dreaming ten years ago, she had missed him immensely. But she never expected him to remember her.  
  
Sam's face fell, misinterpreting her surprise at hearing the name. "Sorry, I thought you were someone else. You have the same necklace as someone I used to know."  
  
Alaina was confused. "But that's impossible. You made this necklace, so no one else could have the same one…"  
  
After much mutual confusion, Sam finally understood. "It IS you!!!" He pulled Alaina into a tight hug that she returned gladly when they had both sorted things out.  
  
"Sam! I can't believe you remembered me!"  
  
"How could I not?" His cheeks took on a slight crimson hue. "Though you have changed a bit."  
  
"So have you. It's been so long. Ten years…" Someone to the left of Sam cleared his throat, and Alaina looked toward the sound.  
  
"Pippin!" she screamed, tackling him. While she still had him pinned to the ground, Alaina looked him over. "Pip, you're exactly the same as you were ten years ago. Except maybe a bit taller."  
  
"And you're so much different," Pippin said. Alaina helped him to his feet but promptly swayed on the spot, nearly falling over, and was steadied by a very handsome hobbit who for some reason greatly resembled Merry.  
  
"Oh…uh…thanks," she said, slightly embarrassed.  
  
"Nice to know you're as happy to see me as you were for Pip," he said jokingly as Alaina looked up at him questioningly.  
  
"But I…you…uh…Merry?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Just…wow," she breathed in awe. "You've changed so much."  
  
At this, Pippin seemed rather fidgety. Alaina stumbled again, this time steadied by Pippin, who had eagerly rushed forward. She suddenly smacked her forehead, bringing about mass confusion for the hobbits.  
  
"I just remembered what happened…Oh, no! I've got to find Christine and Emma! Where could they be?" There was a moment of silence, during which the hobbits found themselves at a loss as to how to comfort Alaina. Sam placed his hand gently on her arm.  
  
"I don't know where they are. I don't even know if they're in Middle-earth!"  
  
"You'll find them. We should probably get you back to Bilbo's house to recover. After all, you almost drowned today."  
  
"I don't need…to…" but before Alaina could finish her sentence, she had fainted once again.  
  
A/N: Sorry, I realize my chapters are very short. If you wanted me to make them longer, I would ramble and be boring. Oh, yeah! Thank you, Mr. Scrollbar, for reminding me…Just some randomness: If you happened to be wondering, the title WILL come into play, I promise. It actually might not be until the last chapter. But when it does, hopefully you'll get the little lightbulb and go "Ohhhh…" The title is also the title of a poem by…oh what is her name!!! I wanna say Anne Bradstreet, but I know that's not right. Anyway, she's another Puritan poet, I'll give you her name when I remember it. The poem starts out with "Success is counted sweetest/by those who ne'er succeed." I just love that poem so much. It's about how basically if someone won all the time, they wouldn't think anything of it the next time they succeeded. But those who try and try yet always come up short will know how great it really is when they finally do succeed. 


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